Multinational Corporations and Economic Development: The Lessons of Singapore‪.‬

Introduction Today, multinational corporations (MNCs) comprise a central place in the world economy. Before World War II, terms such as "multinational" or "transnational" were seldom used to describe international economic relations. Although transnational entities like the British East India Company and joint-stock enterprises existed in the past, the expansion and proliferation of multinational agents is a recent phenomenon. The hyperbolic spread of transnational activity has spawned a spirited debate and the concomitant development of theoretical models that seek to explain their causes and effects.